Charges filed against members of Kansas City gang with ‘history of violence‘, police say

Kansas City law enforcement is touting the arrests last week of a group of men with alleged gang connections , saying they expected the arrests would "significantly" disrupt the group's criminal activities.

Those connected with the group and charged with crimes in Jackson County Circuit Court last week were Sir'Michael Harbin, of Kansas City, Damien A. Carter II, of Kansas City, Montell Essex-Benjamin, of Kansas City, and Jermaine Love, of Kansas City, according to the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office.

Michael Mansur, a spokesman for the office, said charges were also pending for a fifth person connected with the group.

Harbin and Carter were charged with first-degree harassment and armed criminal action after they were allegedly identified as part of a group that repeatedly pointed guns at vehicles, including at a Kansas City police detective in an unmarked vehicle, as they drove past a group of homes in early September, according to court documents.

Kansas City police detectives connected Harbin and Carter to the "256/356" street gang, which they said had a history of violence and was linked with "Big Body Gangway" and "4Door Mob" groups.

"Members of these gangs are known to regularly associate with one another socially and criminally, and maintain common rivalries with opposing gangs and criminal groups across the metropolitan area," a detective wrote in court documents.

Carter allegedly told investigators that he and a group of friends had gathered after the death of one of Carter's friends, had seen police on the day they had been pointing the guns and said the group had been "crashing out," a detective wrote.

Essex-Benjamin was charged with first-degree accessory robbery and accessory armed criminal action, and Love was charged with first-degree robbery and armed criminal action after the two were identified as part of a group of men who stole a Glock handgun from a man at a gas station last month, according to court documents. The two were arrested Thursday, police said.

The Jackson County Prosecutor's Office hailed the charges and said the suspects had been with a gang that had recently been associated with violent crimes in the city.

"These arrests are expected to significantly impact and disrupt the gang's activities," the office said in a news release.

Those arrests came as part of a sweep of "high-priority" suspects with outstanding warrants that also focused on "crime hot spots," the Kansas City Police Department said, noting that 33 people were arrested.